Reflections of a Love
by KadeSmash85
Summary: One shot, set before the jump through the Omega 4 Relay. Katelyn Shepard reflects back on things concerning Liara and their fight on Illium. Mostly this is my take on the "romance" scene if you've stayed true to Liara.


A/N: Hullo! I decided to write a quick one shot fanfic. Simply put it's based on the scene before you go through the Omega 4 Relay at the end of ME2. I wanted to extend it in a way, or perhaps show what may have ran through Shepard's mind.

With that in mind, this is mostly my Shepard reflecting back on things with Liara.

Also I'm having horrible writer's block to those of you reading my Origins of a Forgotten Love. I keep starting up the next chapter then I stop and erase it lol. I have no idea where to go with it suddenly, though I have a general idea. Writer's block sucks!

Shep details: Katelyn Shepard, renegade, Earthborn, Ruthless, Vanguard (not that the class matters in this lol).

Alright on to this loverly one shot x3

Also.. ya I suck a story titles, and it's just going to have a running theme with my other two stories.. Oh and you don't need to read my previous stories to understand this.

Oh an _text like this is a past memory_.

Reflections of a Love

The time had come to finally leap through the Omega 4 relay. It had been a long journey. Much had happened. One moment Katelyn Shepard woke up on a Cerberus base that was full of homicidal mechs, to being put in charge of a suicide mission, to this moment. Many battles occurred along the way. Many old faces popped up, some happy to see her... others ready to toss her out like she had betrayed them.

Kate stepped through the threshold of her cabin as she stopped. She was mere hours away from the fight of her life to date. She could very well die, she knew this. But after having died once she wasn't so afraid of it a second time. But that didn't mean she wanted to die.

She knew the crew were busy grabbing at whatever closure they could get. They all knew this was likely a one way trip. But they had what it took to put an end to the Collectors. Kate believed in them oddly enough. She never use to believe in anyone before.

She rubbed the back of her neck as she let out a loud sigh. She then approached her desk before she took to leaning forward on it. She heard the electronic whir that came to life in front of her as she glimpsed up. Liara's picture greeted her with a smile and flushed cheeks. Kate couldn't help but frown further. She knew she couldn't die on this mission for a couple reasons. One of which was she had to stop the Reapers. The second, she had to see Liara again. She had to apologize to her.

It all came back to her in a flash as she thought about it. She took a seat at her office chair as she couldn't stop staring at the picture before her. She remembered the first time she ever laid eyes on Liara. She was cold to her, questioned her alliances. Though in the back of her mind she couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful the Asari was.

The moment Liara said she was nothing like Benezia and had nothing to do with her or Saren she knew she could trust her. She wasn't sure why that was, but she just knew. She then remembered time spent with the young archaeologist on the SR-1 Normandy. Liara was always right there, asking her questions, or trying to get to know her. She even tried to comfort her on Kaiden's death on Virmire.

Kate smiled briefly at the thought. Liara never feared Kate, it amazed her still. But she frowned as she remembered the moment she saw Liara on Illium. From the moment she woke on the Cerberus base to the moment they landed on Illium all she could think about was seeing Liara. She focused on her mission at hand, but she couldn't help but... miss the subtle presence of the woman.

She missed the long nights spent with Liara. She missed her smile, her voice, the way she'd stutter over her words when she said something that came out all wrong. The shy scientist who was socially awkward, but the strength hidden within her. Kate covered her face as she closed her eyes as she remembered the argument she had with Liara.

"_Did Cerberus ever tell you how they recovered your body?" Liara asked. Kate shook her head despite Liara's back to her. Liara already knew the answer of course. Why would they tell Kate how they got their hands on her? "I gave it to them... I gave you to them, Kate." Liara said. Her tone had turned from cold to downcast pretty quick._

_Kate looked away from Liara as it tried to register in her mind. Liara gave her to Cerberus? Knowing full well how she felt about the organization? But she didn't have enough time to think on it. "Because they said they could rebuild you. And to do that I had to take it from the Shadow Broker." _

_Liara turned around to face Kate who was still looking away, Kate shaking her head, her face contorted in a sense of confusion and frustration. "The Shadow Broker was going to sell you to the Collectors." She then finished as she sat down. Maybe if Kate knew the alternative she would understand why Liara did what she did. _

_Kate finally looked back at Liara, disbelief in her eyes. Kate had suffered silently this whole time. Her life was taken, and two years passed with a blink of an eye. When she woke up she did in chaos. Before she knew it she had a gun and was shooting her way through mechs and she didn't understand what was going on. When she was told she was dead it hit her like a ton of bricks but she had to stay strong._

_But now it was catching up to her. This whole time, she wondered what had happened with Liara. Kate needed to know why this was happening to her. She was a shell of her former self sometimes. "Why didn't you tell me about this. You could've sent me an email, anything!" Kate practically yelled. Liara's eyes looked down at her desk a moment._

"_Because I... screwed it up, Katelyn. I barely escaped with my own life." She looked back up at Kate, who seemed to only grow more agitated. "When I gave you to Cerberus, I told myself I was doing it for you. For a chance to bring you back." Kate's jaw clenched. If what Liara said was true why didn't she stick around? Why didn't she send her a message, anything. _

"_But I knew Cerberus would use you for their own business... And I let it happen. Because... I couldn't let you go... I'm sorry." Liara said as she watched Kate. She meant what she said, she was truly sorry. Things were so messed up, Liara didn't know what else to do. "All this time it wasn't your sources. You knowingly gave me to Cerberus... You did this to me!" Kate yelled as she stood, fists clenched. _

_It was the first real time she had shown emotion since waking up at that Cerberus base. It was like she had bottled it up, as she always did, fully intending to never let it out. But with this it just burst open. It spilled forth, and she couldn't stop it. "If I hadn't you would be dead!" Liara yelled back. She too took to standing, her stance defensive, her eyes full of her own pain and suffering._

"_That's not good enough, Liara!" Kate yelled back. Liara couldn't help but let out a sound of sorrow. "It was either that or the Collectors. I made the best choice I could I'm sorry!" Tears threatened to escape Liara, but she swallowed hard. "You should've let me rot!" Kate yelled as she threw her hand out in anger. Liara let out a long shaky breath as Kate spun on her heels. _

_Liara fell back into her chair as Kate stormed out the door, fists clenched. It was irrational, but at the same time she was fighting to understand how she could've been dead for two years, why she was given a second chance at life. She didn't deserve it, not after all she had done. She felt betrayed to some extent. Her mind was just so chaotic she couldn't have a rational thought if she tried._

She regretted it all. She regretted ever yelling at Liara. She regretted blaming her. She knew Liara was trying to do the right thing. The mission was important, and Kate was the only one who truly knew the extent of the threat approaching their galaxy. She rubbed her face before a sense of frustration took over and she slammed her fist onto her desk.

Katelyn Shepard still loved that Asari with every fiber in her being. She had hopes for a better life with her.. back before the SR-1 was destroyed by the Collectors. Before everything changed with the blink of her eyes. That's how it had felt. One moment she was floating in space, her hard suit leaking oxygen, and she was floating ever closer to a planet. The next thing she knew she was in an unknown place, full of killer mechs.

How was she suppose to handle that? Everything was different. Her friends scattered across the galaxy, half of them unwilling to help her out again, they had their own calling. Garrus, Tali, Joker, and Dr. Chakwas were the only ones there helping her fight. Ashley acted like Kate had betrayed her, the council once more dismissing the Reaper threat. Even Anderson turned his back on her. Then Liara was too damned busy with her petty vengeanc.

She suddenly wondered why she had even stormed off to the Illusive Man demanding information on the Shadow Broker, or Feron. Maybe it was for closure's sake. She was so damned emotional it didn't even make sense anymore.

"I just have to survive this... So I can go back and apologize." She muttered to herself. She looked to her private terminal as she scooted her chair over to it. She brought up her private voice logs and she hit the record button with pure frustration. Maybe, just in case... She'd leave a message.

"Liara, if you're hearing this it means I'm dead," a short pause and a sense of irony filled her. She let out a short sarcastic chuckle. "again." She leaned back in her chair. "I'm sorry I blamed you-"

VWVW

Aaaand fade out.

So ya like I said, one shot. Kind of my take on the whole thing between the scene before the Omega 4 Relay and the confession back on Illium. During one of my play throughs I accidently chose the "I'mma blame Liara" option but it sprung forth an idea and at the same time felt kind of like... I YELL AT YOU ok things are fine. So I wanted to make it sound more realistic.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this x3


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